Take On Me
by TheThiaforce
Summary: Tony Stark fic, reference to the Avengers in extended ending. Otherwise, it takes place before the first Iron man movie. TonyxOC. Rated T for reference to violence, reference to alcohol, and because I don't know what else to rate it.
1. Song-fic

_A/N: Ok, so I had to take out the song-lyrics for the fic due to copyright laws. But the fic is based off of _Take On Me _by the a-has. Check out the music video on Youtube for the fic to make sense._

_…_

Disclaimer: I don't own Tony, the other Avengers, or- well, basically anything below. Except for my character. She's all mine.

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><p>"Jarvis, are you sure this will work?" Tony asks the A.I.<p>

"Status shows that all systems are operational." Tony takes a deep breath. He's been working on this project for nearly a year now, and if it doesn't work, he's gonna be pissed. Then again, if it doesn't work he will most likely be dead, but even then he'll still be mad. The goal of this project is to reach Limbo; the world between worlds. Now, after all this time, the teleporter is ready.

"Well, see you on the flip side J. Been nice knowin' ya." He resets the machine and messes with the space-time co-ordinates until they reach zero-zero. With that, genius billionaire playboy philanthropist Anthony Edward Stark stepped into the unknown. Unfortunately, he forgot a few details, one of them being the sketch book in his back-pocket.

...

"Duck!" The female voice yells just in time for Tony to duck under the flying bullet. Before he can do anything, someone grabs his arm, pulling him behind a colorless car. Looking around, he realizes that there isn't any color anywhere; including on him. In fact, everything looks hand-drawn, like something from a comic book. That includes the girl who just saved his butt back there.

"Uh, thanks."

"No problem."

"Um… where am I?" The girl giggles. To him, it sounds more like birds chirping.

"You're here, silly. Next to me. Come on, before the annihilators get us!" Taking his arm, she tries to drag him away again. This time, however, he resists.

"The what-nows?!" An exasperated sigh escapes her lips.

"The annihilators. Trust me, their bad. Now, come on!" Giving in, he follows her through a maze of scribbles and unfinished images.

...

"Wait, is this my sketch-pad? Yeah, I designed these power-cells, but I gave up half way." They pass a circular shape engulfed in scribbles. The girl pulls him behind a corner, clamping a hand over his mouth as a group of what look like robots run the opposite direction. He's pretty sure they're early designs for a body for Jarvis.

"Why give up on it?"

"Well, I had more profitable things to do."

"Profitable? You mean like designing that gun that the a-ha almost shot you down with? How is something that can do so much damage, more profitable than a power source that could help millions of people?" For once, Tony finds himself speechless.

"I- well, uh… how would someone like you be able to understand?"

"Because I see things as they are, not how people want them to be. Are you sure you're ready to take me on, Mr. Stark?"

...

"Wait, how the heck am I in a drawing? My machine was set for Limbo."

"Why do you question everything? Better yet, why do you ask such stupid questions? Why not ask why you designed a human-seeking G.P.S. into each of those killer robots?" Tony's face contorts into pure horror as he hears the clank of metal approaching, even though they're still stuck in this hand-drawn world.

"What the heck is all this?"

"This? This is your creation, Stark."

"Is there any upside to this?" She looks hesitantly at him.

"Well, we have each other. You, the narcissistic playboy, and me; the truthful whim of your imagination. Creator, and creation. For years we've been alone; separated by a sheet of paper. But now, we're not alone anymore."

...

Racing around another corner, the two find themselves facing a dead-end. Already the billionaire can hear the deadly creatures approaching. He looks to the young woman who has saved him thus far. Her hair is long, lazily falling just below her shoulders. Her skin is dotted with a few stray pencil marks which he assumes are freckles. He wonders what color her eyes would be if she weren't a mere sketch. Either way, she is beautiful.

"Hey, since this is the end, any chance I could get your name?" She smiles that mysterious grin of hers.

"Just shut up and kiss me already, playboy."

...

As they separate, he tries to say something to her, anything, but before he can she shoves him hard against the wall, tearing the paper. He flies through the portal as he re-enters his lab.

"No!" The machine sparks and smokes, closing off the alternate world. "Jarvis, what's been damaged?" Tony franticly searches around for the sketchbook, praying it's not injured.

"The main circuits have been blown, as well as the power in this and adjoining buildings. The back-up generators have kicked in and this wing of the mansion cut off from the rest of the house." Finding the book, he flips through the pages, searching for her.

"There. Jarvis, identify this gir-" His heart falls as he sees the image of her lying motionless at the feet of he a-has. "No… NO!" Sitting at his desk, he takes out a pencil and turns to the next page, drawing lines to create a comic-strip. For hours, he goes through drawing her, until she is once again smiling up at him. She has to live, that he is certain of.

"Sir, you have 1 hour before your jet leaves for Afghanistan." Tony sighs.

"I'll come back for you. I promise. Even if it takes me five more years to build another portal, I'll do it, for you." He can't help but smile as he sees her new-drawn form wink at him.

...

...

...

- Extended ending for those who like sappy, impossible romance.

...

...

...

"Tony, you should head to bed, you've been up for hours." Bruce tries to persuade his friend to take a break.

"Jarvis, are you sure these settings are right?" Tony questions the A.I., ignoring his friend's plea to get some sleep. It's been about a month since Loki was defeated, and ever since the Avengers moved into Stark Tower, they've noticed something… different about Tony. He seems almost, depressed. Pepper says that it's normal for him, but they can hardly believe that; even though it is the truth. Ever since he lost her, he's been a changed man. Most say that it was Afghanistan, but it was, in reality, her doing. She was the reason he pushed to stay alive, to fight for the good of others. He would do anything for her.

When Tony told Jarvis to call Pepper during the missile-incident, he wasn't going to confess his love to her. He was going to ask her to take care of the little leather-bound sketchbook hidden in a secret compartment of his desk. Of course it had to be the one time she didn't answer, so he instructed Jarvis to take care of it if he shouldn't make it. Now that he's alive, though, he's more determined than ever to save her.

"Indeed, sir." Tony adjusts the page displaying the woman on the scanner, taking a step back.

"Then let's try this again." Bruce watches as Tony fires up the machine. From what he can understand, it's some type of teleport, but he's not sure. After several tries with no results, Tony collapses on a chair, drinking away his sorrow of another failure.

"Tony, no. Put the drink down; you need to go to bed. Don't make me go get Steve to carry you there." Knowing that Bruce is serious, the distraught super hero begrudgingly trudges down the hall to his room. Bruce waits for a few minutes to make sure that Tony has really gone to bed, then heads downstairs to hit the hay himself.

Little to the knowledge of the scientists, there was a hand, reaching up to push away the top of the scanner. The hand takes the form of a 3D drawing as it pulls herself from the pages. Pain sears through her body as the transformation of drawing to flesh proceeds. Her body keeps flickering to drawing as she stumbles down the hallways toward where she knows her creator lies.

"Sir, there is an unknown organism heading toward you room. Shall I sound the alarms?" Tony yawns as he steps out of the bed that he was just getting comfortable in.

"Naw, I'll go check it out. I'm sure it's just another hobo off the street that wandered in looking for shelter." Stepping out into the hall, Tony becomes frozen at the sight in front of him. She is right there, stumbling down the hall in obvious pain, changing from picture, to living flesh. He wants to reach out and help her, but he can only manage to stand there, tears trickling down his cheeks. Finally, it stops. Golden streaks highlight the brown hair that falls gently around her shoulders. Her skin is nearly as pale as paper, and her clothes consist of a pair of blue-jeans, a plain red tank-top, red converse, and a black leather jacket. Her eyes remain closed as her body sway precariously. Snapping out of his trance, Tony steps forward just in time to catching her limp figure as she crumples to the ground. She's covered in cold sweat and her breaths are ragged. Scooping her up in his arms, he carries her to his bed and lays her down next to him, where he snuggles close to her for the rest of the night.


	2. Epilogue

_More sappy, impossible romance… I just couldn't help myself! Hope you like! XD_

**Disclaimer: I don't own Tony, just my character.**

…

"… Tony?" Her voice drifts into his ear, causing his eyes to flutter open. She is lying next to him, gazing at his dark brown eyes with her own silvery gray ones.

"Yeah, that's me. You ok now?" She nods before snuggling into his chest. He lightly strokes her hair, thinking back to that night where they were together. "You didn't have to do that you know."

"Do what?"

"Push me away." She opens her eyes again, lifting herself onto her elbows.

"I was saving you."

"We could've found another way."

"You would have been hurt."

"I almost lost you."

"How can you lose something you never had in the first place?" Tony chuckles.

"I don't know. Weren't you the one who was criticizing stupid questions?" She stares into his eyes for a minute before they both burst into giggles.

"Tony, why do you care about me so much? We were barely together for an hour." He sighs, pondering his response.

"Look, you changed me; I'd like to think for the better. And it wasn't just 'you tell me to change and I obey without question' either. You presented me with the truth; it just took some shrapnel to the chest to make me understand it." She then notices the glowing blue reactor in his chest. Her fingers trace it lightly as her eyes gaze into the intense blue glow.

"I knew those scribbles would be useful."

"Yeah, you were right. They saved my life; just like you did, my guardian angel." Her cheeks are dusted with pink at his words.

"You know… I like that."

"Like what?"

"Angel, unless you already have a name picked out for me." Tony's eyes widen.

"You don't have a name?!" She shrugs.

"Like I said… Angel is cool; unless you have another suggestion." He shakes his head incredulously.

"You never cease to amaze me… Angel."

"And you never cease to amaze me, my wonderful creator."


End file.
